21 eye-popping quotes from Trump's calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia
"I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."
President Trump's Jan. 27 phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Jan. 28 phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were long rumored to be chaotic. But no one quite realized how wild they were until The Washington Post published transcripts of the conversations on Thursday. Recorded by White House note-takers and circulated among senior administration staff, the transcripts reveal startling insight into the president's approach — and frustrations — when negotiating with other world leaders.
The first conversation, with Peña Nieto, revolved around Trump trying to get the Mexican leader to stop publicly refusing to pay for Trump's long-promised border wall. Trump's exchange with Turnbull was even more heated, as Trump vented about an Obama-era agreement to take 1,250 refugees from Australia.
Read the most eye-popping quotes below. And be sure to read the full transcript at The Washington Post. It's worth your time.
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Trump spoke to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Jan. 27. Peña Nieto spoke Spanish during the conversation, but could understand Trump's English.
1. "We lost a lot of factories in Ohio and Michigan and I won these states — some of these states have not been won in 38 years by a Republican and I won them very easily. So they are dancing in the streets. You probably have the same thing where they are dancing in your streets also, but in reverse." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
2. "And we have the drug lords in Mexico that are knocking the hell out of our country. They are sending drugs to Chicago, Los Angeles, and to New York. Up in New Hampshire — I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den — is coming from the southern border." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
3. "You have some pretty tough hombres in Mexico that you may need help with, and we are willing to help you with that big-league. But they have to be knocked out and you have not done a good job of knocking them out. We have a massive drug problem where kids are becoming addicted to drugs because drugs are being sold for less money than candy because there is so much of it." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
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4. "I have been given as president tremendous taxation powers for trade and for other reasons — far greater than anybody understands." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
5. "They are going to say, 'Who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?' to both of us, and we should both say, 'We will work it out.' It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, 'We will not pay' and me saying, 'We will not pay.'" [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
6. "But you cannot say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the wall. I am just going to say that we are working it out. Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about. But in terms of dollars — or pesos — it is the least important thing. I know how to build very inexpensively, so it will be much lower than these numbers I am being presented with, and it will be a better wall and it will look nice. And it will do the job." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
7. "Your citizens are being killed all over the place, your police officers are being shot in the head, and your children are being killed." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
8. "It is you and I against the world, Enrique, do not forget." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
9. "I want you to be so popular that your people will call for a constitutional amendment in Mexico so that you can run again for another six years." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
10. "Your words are so beautiful. Those are beautiful words and I do not think I can speak that beautifully, okay? It would be great to put those words at the end of the statement. Really nice though." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
The next day, President Trump spoke to Australian Prime Minister Turnbull on the phone. The conversation turned tense when Trump and Turnbull begin to discuss an Obama-era agreement that the United States take 1,250 refugees from Australia who reached the country by boat. Australia refuses to accept any refugees who come to its shores this way.
11. "Really, it looks like 2,000 people that Australia does not want and I do not blame you by the way, but the United States has become like a dumping ground." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
12. "I heard about this — I have to say I love Australia; I love the people of Australia. I have so many friends from Australia, but I said — geez that is a big ask, especially in light of the fact that we are so heavily in favor, not in favor, but we have no choice but to stop things. We have to stop. We have allowed so many people into our country that should not be here. We have our San Bernardinos, we have had the World Trade Center come down because of people that should not have been in our country, and now we are supposed to take 2,000. It sends such a bad signal. You have no idea. It is such a bad thing." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
13. "You are worse than I am." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
14. "This is going to kill me. I am the world's greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people and I agree I can vet them, but that puts me in a bad position. It makes me look so bad and I have only been here a week. [Turnbull replies, "With great respect, that is not right — It is not 2,000."] Well, it is close. I have also heard like 5,000 as well." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
15. "I hate taking these people. I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
16. "Look, I do not know how you got them to sign a deal like this, but that is how they lost the election. They said I had no way to 270 and I got 306. That is why they lost the election, because of stupid deals like this." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
17. "I look like a dope." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
18. "Can Australia give me a guarantee that if we have any problems — you know that is what they said about the Boston bombers. They said they were wonderful young men. [Turnbull: "They were Russians. They were not from any of these countries."] They were from wherever they were." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
19. "What is the thing with boats? Why do you discriminate against boats?" [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
20. "I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people. This is a killer." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
21. "I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous." [President Trump, via The Washington Post]
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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